Every now and then I run across a game that looks like it will be my thing—not that it necessarily will be my thing, but the vibe is undeniable. The Secret of Weepstone, revealed today, is one such game: "A hand-drawn black and white dungeon crawler RPG inspired by classic D&D of the '80s" that's set to come out in 2026.
The Secret of Weepstone has all the setup you need for a good old-fashioned dungeon romp: The dying lord's dreams are haunted, and a crew of local rubes has to hike down into the closest pit to figure out why. That's it, that's literally all you need, and it's all that Secret of Weepstone gives you—along with an appropriately grim warning that "there are no heroes here" (the village of Weepstone has definitely seen better days) and you're almost certainly going to die.
Look, the fact is that I like basic, old-timey D&D: Keep the levels low, the classes simple, and go easy on the inter-planar travel and sex. That's why I adore Baldur's Gate 1 and 2, but never really clicked with BG3: That sort of sprawling, exotic experience just ain't my D&D.
But Secret of Weepstone may be. The image of the faux-module near the start of the trailer is what first grabbed me—as soon as I saw that, I knew I had to pay attention. The pencil-and-ink dungeon images that followed pretty much sealed the deal: A couple of my PC Gamer pals who will go unnamed didn't care for the style, but I think it's gorgeous, and spot on for the subject matter.
I also really dig the way the dice roll into the game world—and the front-line party members only have six hit points! For me, that's a good sign. (I'm 100% serious about this, by the way, and if you have any doubt here's a tale from long ago about why you should play Eye of the Beholder 2, one of the best dungeon crawlers of all time, despite it now being nearly 25 years old. Now that is my kinda D&D, baby.)
How Secret of Weepstone will ultimately play remains to be seen, and it may be a little more horror-focused than I'd like. It's being published by noted horror house DreadXP, after all, and there's some distinct Darkest Dungeon-style unpleasantness to the whole thing. These are clearly not jaunty adventurers who are going to share some laughs over celebratory ales after they save the village from a pack of roaming skeletons.
Alas, I've got some waiting before I can find out how it stands up on that front. The Secret of Weepstone is up for wishlisting now on Steam but not set to launch until sometime in 2026. A pre-release build will be playable at PAX West later this month, though, so we should be hearing some early gameplay impressions soon. I'll be paying attention.
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